After the Fire by Will Hill

Amazon

Published: October 2, 2018 by Sourcebooks Fire
Genres: Fiction, YA, Contemporary

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Description:
Moonbeam lived in a cult.  She was not allowed to leave the property, nor allowed to talk to Outsiders, or to speak her mind. Father John controlled everything. He uses the Bible and twists its words to fit his own needs. Father John likes rules. Disobeying him came with terrible consequences. Then there is an outsider that comes in and stirs things up. Getting Moonbeam to see her life may not be as "true" as she has been lead to believe. She seeks courage to protect herself and the other children of the Lord's Legion. 

Review:
Thank you to NetGalley and to Sourcebooks Fire for the Advanced Reader's Copy of this book. I received this in exchange for my honest review. 

The cover I feel would be more fitting for a novel about a monstrous child starting a house fire. Or a father trailing his family and leaving the child orphaned. These are just thoughts that had popped into my mind when I first saw the cover. I love the cover, and I guess after reading the whole novel I can see how it fits with so many of the children becoming orphaned. 

I loved the story! Power, Corruption. Father John does such a grand job of twisting the minds and fears of the people whom he "loves" ignorer to get them to obey. I am so shocked at how many people would move to a place like this and absorb so many lies into believe the as their new truth. 

I loved watching Moombeam develop. She goes from nightmares and not really understanding who she can trust or how much she can trust to really trusting and counting on Doctor Hernandez and Agent Carlyle. She turned out to be a very strong character. You can tell as she subdues Father John's voice in her head telling her to keep her mouth shot and calling her a heretic. Eventually those voices are gone and to me this speaks to how strong of a woman she is turning into. 

The story bounces between a "before" and "after" theme. The after being the conversations she is having with those around her in the therapy and before being her recollections of what had happen. I enjoy stories that have this type of set up. It really shows how the character is able to overcome and grow after such a tragic event. 

I have never known anyone who has been in a cult. I can completely see how easy how these things could really get out of hand. Hill really brought the setting to life and made me feel like I was really there and able to picture easily. I will be excited to see if this is made into a movie.

So much of this book was great. Why only 4 Stars? For me, it was a slow read. I was fully enjoying everything about it and I really wanted to know more but it was a bit of a chore to read this through. I am glad I did. I will definitely be recommending this book!

November Book Club

Amazon

In a searing novel of love and loyalty, guilt and honor, the acclaimed author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Horse Whisperer gives his millions of readers another hero…

His name is Connor Ford and he falls like an angel of mercy from the sky, braving the flames to save the woman he loves but knows he cannot have. For Julia Bishop is the partner of his best friend and fellow “smoke jumper,” Ed Tully. Julia loves them both–until a fiery tragedy on Montana’s Snake Mountain forces her to choose between them, and burns a brand on all their hearts.

In the wake of the fire, Connor embarks on a harrowing journey to the edge of human experience, traveling the world’s worst wars and disasters to take photographs that find him fame but never happiness. Reckless of a life he no longer wants, again and again he dares death to take him, until another fateful day on another continent, he must walk through fire once more…

A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoul

Published: October 2, 2018 by Ballantine Books

Genres: Contemporary, Adult, Fiction

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I am such a HUGE fan of Jodi Picoult. I was so excited and honored when I received a free galley of her newest novel, A Spark of Light. She is very brave about the subjects she writes in. Always choosing a topic that is a sensitive subject and making a very amazing story about it. 

I first tried to read Jodi Picoult as a teenager...big mistake. I was not ready. That experience set me off of Picoult and I am really regretting that. I read Small Great Things earlier this year, I'm currently reading My Sister's Keeper. I just want to take a vacation with all of Picoult's books and do nothing else but read them ALL. I am regretting not giving her another try sooner. 

Description: 

In a women’s reproductive health services clinic a gunman bursts in and opens fire, taking all inside hostage. Hugh McElroy, a police hostage negotiator, gets to work. To his horror, he finds out that his fifteen-year-old daughter, Wren, is inside the clinic.

But Wren is not alone. She will share the next and tensest few hours of her young life with a cast of unforgettable characters: A nurse who calms her own panic in order save the life of a wounded woman. A doctor who does his work not in spite of his faith but because of it, and who will find that faith tested as never before. A pro-life protester disguised as a patient, who now stands in the cross hairs of the same rage she herself has felt. A young woman who has come to terminate her pregnancy. And the disturbed individual himself, vowing to be heard.

Review:
I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to the author and publisher for providing a copy of this book via NetGalley. 

I love Jodi Picoult. I loved this book! I found her very well researched and as a christian woman who is antiabortion, I was not angry with Picoult for choosing this topic and bringing it to life the way she did. I love that there were so many characters who faced different experiences and how that shaped their perception on this topic. I felt that each argument was brought forward on both spectrums of this argument, many of which I had heard before and a few of which I had not. 

This cover is absolutely GORGEOUS! The abstractness of two woman having completely different views and their minds are just so full of different possibilities. I found the characters to be believable. I have met many woman who have been in these different situations. Some made the same decisions and some did not. 

I will absolutely be recommending this book to friends and family.